Bus pass

The right-hand shoulder of interstate highways is known as the breakdown lane. Along Interstate 40 in the Triangle, this area serves as a handy place for storing broken-down vehicles, shredded truck tires, unattached bumpers and assorted unsorted trash, along with the occasional moldy mattress or out-of-season Christmas tree. Starting next year, along certain stretches of I-40 in certain circumstances, the breakdown lane will be the bus lane, too.

Sounds like a plan with major obstacles in its path.

Actually, the setup announced by Triangle Transit and the state DOT makes some sense. It doesn't pretend to be more than it is: a way for commuter buses to bypass sticky traffic jams caused by accident or congestion. The notion is to keep the buses rolling, on the shoulder, when roadbound traffic isn't. That gets the paying customers to their destinations sooner and shows all those fuming drivers of single-occupancy vehicles that the bus may be the way to go for them as well.

The target area is along I-40 just west of the Durham Freeway, in both directions. Buses will use the breakdown lane only when traffic is stopped or badly slowed, and buses can't exceed 35 mph. If the experiment works, it may be expanded to other interstate sections here.

Commuter buses, which the TTA is now running with considerable success (ridership is up notably), are a good thing, and giving them priority in traffic jams is worth a try. But: (1) The DOT will have to pay much more attention to keeping the breakdown lane free of debris and stranded vehicles; (2) bus drivers must take great care in passing long lines of stopped traffic, and at highway on- and off-ramps; and (3) frustrated car-bound drivers will have to resist the impulse to Follow That Bus.